This years’ Halloween festivities spanned two days and had me doing some acting and quick thinking. I mentioned that Halloween is my favorite holiday, I do like to dress up and be someone else for a bit. I have a some theatrics in my soul that comes out one time a year (if that) haha. This year when I saw that another Halloween lover was teaching a special Friday night yoga class on Halloween Eve, and was dressing up and creating a fun playlist I wanted to join in and surprise her. Mike and I rewatched Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula which came out the year we were married (1992) okay wow, it was released on November 13, 1992. Mike and I were married the next day, what a weird coincidence that I never knew til JUST NOW! Okay, so anyhoooo I knew I wanted to re-do my Lucy costume and make it more authentic and scary compared to the one I did for the kid’s Halloween party (I’ll have to find that one and add it later, I’ve looked through all my online photos and it’s not there BOO) My plan was to make the lobby scary with halloween music and low lights, then I’d come out and hiss at the students as they came in. LOL Mike helped me by saying “someone’s coming” haha we had fun and the students got a kick out of it. But Kelsey the teacher, it was everything to see her reaction. She loved it. It was a lot of work to get ready but totally worth it. I also work on Saturday mornings and this time was no different, 6:45am arrival and when I woke up I had to think of a costume. I went with Bavarian Beer Maid since I had the apron, hat and stein. It was a lot easier to work in for the hot studio, no makeup except for some rosy cheeks. Fast forward to the evening and we got 1 trick-or-treater. WOMP WOMP.
1986 – 40 years ago was my freshman year at Longwood College (now University) I was a messy 18 year old that was going through a lot. My parents were split up, my sisters living back in New York, I was accepted to the school by a thread and doing badly in my courses, and partying way too much. One of my roommates and I were “metal girls”; she was more hair metal and I was more thrash metal, but you could pick out a handful of metal people around campus and we all started to get to know each other. There was a group that was a year or two older than us and we joined in with them; partied, went to see bands play around town and to a couple of practices of a townie band that had one of the students we were friends with as their guitar player.
My roommate and I attended a family style dinner at the beginning of November, so for the sake of this story let’s say it was Thursday November 13th 1986, it was definitely NOT a Tuesday. We were sitting with our group of new metalhead friends and the guitar player for the local band was a mutual friend with Mike, who was sitting at another table with guys from his hall. At our table, our mutual friend was telling us all about Mike; that he had a Marshall amp and Flying V guitar IN HIS DORM ROOM, that he had TONS of cassette tapes of demos and live shows of bands like Metallica, Megadeth, etc etc more bands than we’d even heard of at that point… and that he had lived in Africa before coming to college. Uh WHAT?! This cool looking dude I’d been spotting around campus in his jeans, band tshirts, high top sneakers and his leather jacket was even cooler than his appearance. We had to meet him! Our friend said “well his name is Mike Smith and he lives in the high rises” so my roomie and I planned to follow his table outside and call his name so we could join up with this new group of metal peeps. She called out his name, he turned around and we talked a little, he said we could come over to his room that night but that he was going to the library first to study!!! We went over, his room was so cool, he had stuff from Africa, pictures of his family, a Marshall amp, his white Flying V and a handwritten sign that said “Yngwie is GOD” and the rest is history.
We became fast friends for the next couple of weeks, I carpooled home with him for Thanksgiving Break two weeks later, he attended a party at my dad’s house that weekend while he and Shirley were on a beach trip, and once we were all back at school before Christmas Break we really developed our friendship and over the break while he was back in Africa, I realized how much I missed him and so began what eventually became our romance haha. Took a bit because I was still messy but now I was freshly 19 and still in the process of ending it for good with my high school boyfriend and the stress of it all had me doing even worse in my second semester classes :(.
I guess a little (long) struggle is good for one’s character and it is weird to have such a great time of my life also be such a terrible time of my life. I will say, 40 years ago at late registration in August 1986 before school even started and I saw him there, it was love at first sight for me and once I got to know Mike after meeting him in November, I couldn’t believe that it was also love at first talk. He helped me get through so much MESS, he pushed me to get my shit together so I could return to college (I didn’t get to go back my first semester sophomore year – the photo above was from a visit I made to see him, I took a Greyhound Bus OMG from Dumfries to Richmond and he and our friend Greg picked me up there and drove to Farmville) and we could be together. By the time I was 20 starting my junior year, I had quit partying, focused on school, had my music loving partner, met my bestie for life Shale, (who is still my forever roomie) and started working on the person I would become (and I am very proud of my growth and MYSELF). I don’t celebrate Thanksgiving for what it was originally intended for, but I am always quietly thankful for meeting Mike and together, creating this beautiful life with our daughters, pets, friends and family. Cheers to 40 years!
Today is our wedding anniversary – which happened on the day after Dracula was released (see above) – that is so crazy to me haha and that I wore my wedding dress – that I love – for two Halloween costumes, life is interesting when you stop to think about stuff. I love you Mike Smith, I allllllwwwwayyys will at this point haha if we follow Ru Paul’s advice “Don’t EFF it up!”
Bye for now!
